Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Odissi exponent Varadkar, also former Irish PM’s cousin

Shubhada Varadkar, a distinguished exponent of Odissi dance, has been honored with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Born into a family of academics, lawyers, freedom fighters, and medical practitioners, Shubhada grew up in an environment where music and dance were not considered viable career options. Her mother, while encouraging, did not harbor any vision of a professional career for her daughter.

However, Shubhada's passion for dance prevailed, and her father's support allowed her to pursue her dreams. Despite coming from a lineage of esteemed figures, including her father Manohar and Manik Varadkar, who was a freedom fighter, and her grandfather, the renowned pathologist V R Khanolkar, Shubhada found solace in dance. Her grandfather, a distinguished professor of pathology, was also the first Dean of the Tata Memorial Cancer Research Institute and is recognized as the Father of Pathology and Medical Research in India.

Shubhada is also the first cousin of Leo Varadkar, the former Prime Minister of Ireland and the country's first openly gay head of state. She is the grand-niece of Savitri Bai Khanolkar, who designed India's highest gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra. Savitri Bai, of Swiss origin, was deeply devoted to her Indian heritage and claimed she was "born in Europe by mistake."

Shubhada began her professional dance training after completing her Class 10 exams, under the condition that she achieve distinctions. She initially studied Bharatanatyam with Guru Shri Mani in Mumbai before falling in love with Odissi, the dance form of legend Kelucharan Mohapatra. Shubhada's training in Odissi took place under Mohapatra's guidance in Bhubaneswar, where she studied economics and became a professor at RR Ruia College in Mumbai.

Surviving cancer twice, Shubhada has authored two books about her experiences and is currently working on a new book about Odramagadhi, the ancient regional style and primary precursor of Odissi.